Un Coeur en Hiver

Two friends and partners, Stéphane (Autieul) and Maxime (Dussolier) run a violin making business in Paris. Maxime reveals to Stéphane the two-month relationship which he has with Camille (Béart), a young violinist whose attention seems to be drawn to Stéphane...

The plot reveals too many twists and delicate psychological tricks to be presented here in detail. It is another meditation on the notion of love as power and manipulation and it contains several socio-psychological threads which make it virtually impossible to categorise the film into a generalised schema. On the one hand the typically encountered love triangle is here used in order to highlight conflict at two different levels. Firstly by stressing the destructive effects regarding the manipulation of one's emotions, and secondly emphasising the decaying relationship between Stephane and Maxime, whereby friendship has been replaced by a more formal partnership. On the other, issues of the artist/craftsman and his self-contained world, of the teacher-pupil relationship (hence the enigmatic presence of Stéphane's mentor), or of latent homosexual desire, crop up continuously in a somehow covert form, rendering Un Coeur en Hiver something more than a perplexing love story.

Sautet's handling of the story contains moments of fine directorial skill, especially in cases where a small group of people are involved. For example, the scene where after a meal, Stéphane, his mentor, Camille and Maxime discuss the contemporary state of art is conducted exquisitely by Sautet who manages with great economy of means to convey the inner world and temperament of his characters. The music by Ravel might appear excessive at points but it remains a constant vehicle for uncovering emotions and resolving tensions. Daniel Autieul is astounding as the reticent, introverted craftsman whose emotional cul-de-sac is counterbalanced by self-pity, André Dussolier provides a beautifully sustained naturalistic performance, but the film belongs undoubtedly to Emmanuelle Béart who displays impressively how much she has matured as an actress. Entirely free of the typical pretentiousness which burdens contemporary French cinema, Un Couer en Hiver integrates all of its subtle elements into an elegant and complex whole and can easily be regarded as the best film to come out of France in many years.

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94